Arrington's plight one of NFL parity

INSIDE THE NFL

October 16, 2005|By Chris Harry, Sentinel Columnist

Three games, two plays.

That's how much LaVar Arrington has been on the field for the Washington Redskins since Sept. 18.

A healthy Arrington, the second overall pick in the 2000 draft, parked on the bench for a month would seem to be a less-than-judicious way for the Redskins to get the most out of their $68 million investment.

That's right. Less than two years ago, Washington owner Dan Snyder signed Arrington -- the face of the franchise, the team proclaimed at the time -- to a team-record contract extension through the 2011 season.

Now they can't find a place for him on the field -- not even on special teams. Arrington, voted to the Pro Bowl from 2001-03, is playing behind Warrick Holdman, Chris Clemons and Khary Campbell.

Theories are running rampant as to why he's not playing.

Some say Arrington hasn't fully recovered from the knee injury that cost him 12 games last season. Some say he's in the doghouse of Gregg Williams, who oversees the Redskins' fifth-ranked defense. Some say he freelances too much and takes himself out of position to execute his assignment. Some say the pine time is payback for a $6.5 million grievance he filed against the team last offseason over a discrepancy in his contract.

"There are so many things that I hear that I don't know which one to pinpoint it on," Arrington told reporters in D.C. "The truth is out there, and somebody knows the truth. I don't happen to be the one that knows it or at least I'm not sure."

I say it's insane.

I also say it's too bad the complicated structure of the NFL's salary cap and non-guaranteed contracts make it impossible to move a player such as Arrington in midseason.

The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m., but don't bother looking for any significant swaps.

How great a story would it be if Washington could ship Arrington to, say, defensive-challenged Kansas City? OK, maybe that's a bad example -- the Redskins play the Chiefs today -- but you get the idea.

Blockbuster deals (and rumors thereof) make for great plot twists in baseball and the NBA, but under the current NFL system, trading Arrington would bring about a salary-cap acceleration of $12 million immediately. Suffice it to say it would put the Redskins at a competitive disadvantage to lop off $12 million worth of players in October. They'll have to wait until the offseason to address the Arrington issue.

But that is exactly what makes the NFL "the king." Signing players to fat long-term contracts is fine if they figure long-term with the team. If they don't, teams pay on more than one front. That makes for parity.

In the case of Arrington, it's making for humiliation. Hardly a way to treat the face of the franchise, either.

Still, I find it hard to believe a defense that ranks near the bottom of the league in turnovers forced and sacks couldn't use a disruptive force like Arrington somewhere on the field in certain situations.

Washington Coach Joe Gibbs is tired of answering questions about Arrington -- especially with his team tied for first in the NFC East.

"I've talked to LaVar more than any other player I've ever coached in 30 years -- probably two times as much. I've had great conversations with him and told him exactly what he needs to do," Gibbs said last week. "Our coaching staff here has tons of experience, and I believe we play the best guys. So whenever LaVar is the best person to be in there, I'm convinced he'll be in there."

In the interim, Arrington will sit and the Redskins will pay. For nothing.

One-on-one matchup of the week

Jacksonville hung the first defeat on Cincinnati last week. Now, maybe Tennessee offensive coordinator Norm Chow can provide some inside information to his defense on how to make life troublesome for quarterback Carson Palmer.

Chow should be an expert on the subject. He was the coordinator of the great offenses Palmer (and Matt Leinart) oversaw at USC, where Palmer won the 2002 Heisman Trophy. He should know what Palmer likes and dislikes.

Palmer gushed about his college mentor last week.

"He was a guy I looked up to in every way," Palmer said. "I want to be the father he is and the husband he is. He's a person that you don't need a whole lot of time to get to know before you respect him."

QUICK SLANTS

In between phone calls from Mike Martz, interim coach Joe Vitt had to get the St. Louis Rams ready for Monday night's visit from the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts.

"There should be rules," Vitt told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch regarding Martz's bedside coaching. "He has no discipline at all."

Vitt expects the phone to buzz all the way up to kickoff -- and quite possibly moments after -- despite Martz being in a hospital for treatment of a bacterial infection in his heart.

A career assistant dating to 1979 with the Baltimore Colts, Vitt -- who has overseen the club's linebackers since joining the staff in 2004 -- will call the shots for the first time in his 26 NFL seasons. As a reward, he gets Peyton Manning and the league's top-ranked scoring defense.